“We only suspended strike, not call it off”

The confederation of the trade unions in Cameroon has told Government that they did not call off the strike action planned to protest against the increase in prices of petroleum products, but only suspended it to give dialogue a chance.

They made the statement during a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Social Security in Yaounde last week. The trade unionists told Minister Gregoire Owona that their patience was running out since Government has continued to procrastinate on the solutions to their problems.

According to one of the trade unionists, Wilfred Tasang, the trade unions called for a strike when the Government increased the prices of petroleum products in the country. In reaction, he said, the President issued an Ordinance, reducing the special tax on petrol (super) by FCFA 40.

To him, the tax was reduced from FCFA 120 to FCFA 80. By that same token, the tax on gasoil was supposed to be reduced from FCFA 65 to FCFA 60, Tasang said. He argued that the trickle down of the Presidential Ordinance should have been a corresponding reduction in the price of fuel at the filling stations.

“The cost of a litre of Super should have been now reduced from FCFA 650 to FCFA 610. But the prices are still the same,” he complained. Tasang said the increase in fuel prices has provoked a general rise in the prices of goods and services in the country. He said transport agencies have increased fares by 20 percent while Government only granted a salary increase of five percent to civil servants.

The trade unionist regretted that the Ministry of Trade’s claim that it was controlling the prices of basic commodities amounts to lip service because the increase in the fuel price has a bearing on the prices of other goods and services.

He said the meeting with the Minister, Gregoire Owona, ended in a deadlock as Government did not budge as far as their grievances are concerned. Such an impasse is a pointer to a looming strike.